I've had a horrendous Cladophora Algae issue in my 8 gallon shallow tank for a couple of months and after trying to battle it I've had to give in and totally strip down the tank. Whole new substrate system, all new plants, new wood, new rocks. Everything apart from the filter (and the tank itself) has been replaced and I gave the actual tank a really good clean too. The only other thing I managed to keep was 2 of my terrestrial plants that have been doing really well - a lime varigated Pothos and a Mini Monstera that I've had for a number of years so glad I could save it. I took cuttings of both plants so that anything that was previously in the water has been binned.
Cladophora is an awful algae, its a relative of the moss balls I believe but this one just grew in thick dense mats and its got a weird smell when you take it out of the water. It just smothers everything and does well in no light, low light and high light...
I've planted heavily from the start with 10 Tropica pots so far, 3 Narrow Java Ferns, 2 Ludwigia, 3 Dwarf Sag and 2 Crypts - the Crypts are the big one that start with a U... I've planted them at the front for now but if they do go big I'll move them. I've also got 2 pots of Eliocharis Vietnam, a small Anubias and a Lobelia Cardinalis Mini on order from Aquarium Gardens which I think will really add to the tank. The Lobelia did really well in my other tank for quite a while, but it got taken over by some more aggressive plants so need to be careful of that this time. I'm excited for the Eliocharis, I've heard good things about it doing well in low tech tanks and hard water - its a grass type plant that gets to about 15cm.
The substrate is Wio Eonian Powder and it is like a real soil, not the balls or grains from other kinds. I love Eonian as there is no ammonia spike and its been designed to last long term - Wio claim 10 years but even if its half of that fantastic. The sand is JBL Sansibar River and its a bit lighter than I would have liked but it will fade over time and may mix with the soil anyway so we can see.
The wood also from Ings Lane I think would be labeled as structure wood in other places but its made up of 3 pieces which I've glued together with rocks to keep it down (seems to have worked). This wood is soaking water up to the pieces that break the surface which the Redmoore Roots I used to have never did so I might try and get some moss to grow on here.
The most stressful part was getting the Oase Filtosmart to start again after I took it apart, you have to fill it right to the brim, there is no priming support like the Biomaster. Took me far too long but seems ok this morning.
Wills
Cladophora is an awful algae, its a relative of the moss balls I believe but this one just grew in thick dense mats and its got a weird smell when you take it out of the water. It just smothers everything and does well in no light, low light and high light...
I've planted heavily from the start with 10 Tropica pots so far, 3 Narrow Java Ferns, 2 Ludwigia, 3 Dwarf Sag and 2 Crypts - the Crypts are the big one that start with a U... I've planted them at the front for now but if they do go big I'll move them. I've also got 2 pots of Eliocharis Vietnam, a small Anubias and a Lobelia Cardinalis Mini on order from Aquarium Gardens which I think will really add to the tank. The Lobelia did really well in my other tank for quite a while, but it got taken over by some more aggressive plants so need to be careful of that this time. I'm excited for the Eliocharis, I've heard good things about it doing well in low tech tanks and hard water - its a grass type plant that gets to about 15cm.
The substrate is Wio Eonian Powder and it is like a real soil, not the balls or grains from other kinds. I love Eonian as there is no ammonia spike and its been designed to last long term - Wio claim 10 years but even if its half of that fantastic. The sand is JBL Sansibar River and its a bit lighter than I would have liked but it will fade over time and may mix with the soil anyway so we can see.
The wood also from Ings Lane I think would be labeled as structure wood in other places but its made up of 3 pieces which I've glued together with rocks to keep it down (seems to have worked). This wood is soaking water up to the pieces that break the surface which the Redmoore Roots I used to have never did so I might try and get some moss to grow on here.
The most stressful part was getting the Oase Filtosmart to start again after I took it apart, you have to fill it right to the brim, there is no priming support like the Biomaster. Took me far too long but seems ok this morning.
Wills
